6. going straight up
on a number that had recently hit more than once
7. going straight up on a number that had not hit
in a long, long while
On a perfectly balanced
wheel, not one of the Ugly Seven is a winning strategy.
They each will lose the percentage that the house
has over them on the total amount of money a player
bets in the long run. On Europe’s single-zero
wheel (currently found at Isle of Capri!), that
edge is 2.7 percent on the inside bets and 1.35
percent on the outside “even-money” bets
when the casino has an option called “en prison.”
On the American double-zero wheel that edge is a
frightening 5.26 percent on the inside bets and,
in some casinos, a 2.63 percent edge on the outside
“even-money” bets where the “surrender”
option is allowed (see table tips). So, if over
the course of a lifetime of playing roulette, a
European nobleman or woman bets one hundred million
dollars on a combination of inside and outside wagers,
he or she can expect to lose between $1,350,000
and $2,700,000. An American can expect to lose between
$2,630,000 and $5,260,000 on those same wagers.
The math is merciless.
And that’s that, right?
Wrong!
Over the years ingenious
roulette players have figured out ways to beat the
physical wheel, as opposed to the mathematical underpinnings
of the theoretical game, by locating wheels that
were slightly biased in favor of certain numbers.
These wheels may have had design flaws, or usage
flaws that over time caused the ball to favor some
numbers or sections over others. Players call such
strategies “biased-wheel play” and it
was just such “play” that was used by
the few individuals who were able to “break
the bank” at Monte Carlo in the early part
of the Twentieth Century. They recorded tens of
thousands of spins and when they found a wheel that
was obviously “off” -- they came on with
big bets and battered the venerable casino to the
tune of hundreds of thousands of dollars (today,
with inflation, that would be millions).
Now, along comes another daring advantage player,
Christopher Pawlicki, who has penned a new book
in the Scoblete-Get the Edge Guides series, appropriately
titled Get the Edge at Roulette: How to Predict
Where the Ball Will Land! (Bonus Books), that not
only discusses how to employ “biased-wheel
play” but also discusses other methods of beating
the wheel such as taking advantage of “dealer
signatures,” “wheel clocking,” and
“sector shooting.” Pawlicki also has an
interesting chapter in his book on how to beat Internet
roulette as well!
So while the math of
roulette might be merciless, the mechanics of the
game just might be beatable if you have the time,
discipline, and, in some cases, the talent to put
into practice what Pawlicki preaches.
Take the example of a “dealer signature.”
For years gambling writers have speculated that
some dealers might be able to influence the fall
of the ball because they get into a “rhythm”
where they pick the ball up a certain way, wait
a given beat, then release the ball with the same
speed each and every time. These dealers are not
aware of what they are doing and their signature
is therefore unconscious. Nevertheless, a certain
pattern can develop where the ball lands within
“X” number of pockets from the last spin.
So a dealer might spin in such a way that more than
two-thirds of the time the ball lands within ten
to twenty pockets of the last hit.
If you know such a
dealer, money can be made on them -- sometimes a
lot of money. Pawlicki shows you how to analyze
these dealers and take advantage of their “signatures.”
In a similar way, some
dealers have consciously developed the ability to
hit sectors of the wheel. Pawlicki himself can do
this as he dealt roulette for years in charitable
games (the worst games you can play!). These dealers
are called “sector shooters” and they
too can be exploited if you understand their abilities
and psychology.
The “wheel clocker”
is an entirely different animal. A player can develop
the ability to analyze the trajectory of the ball
and then approximate where it will land when it
finishes its orbit. Pawlicki shows exactly how to
develop this ability. Unfortunately, of all the
methods in his book, this is the most difficult
to learn and to put into practice in a casino. It
requires months of practice to perfect and then
tremendous concentration to perform in the casinos.
Frank once tried to master this method and all it
got him was “eye strain and an upset stomach”
every time he attempted it.
The advantage-play
methods that Pawlicki writes about are all perfectly
legal. Of course, casinos might not want you to
play these systems and, unfortunately for players,
there are simple ways for casinos to thwart each
and every method -- if they know a player is using
such a method, that is.
We realize that most casino players are obviously
not all that interested in putting in the time and
the practice to master most advantage-play techniques.
It’s a lot of time and a lot of practice. The
amount of money you make from all that work is not
guaranteed the way a good job guarantees a steady
income with benefits.
But for those of you
who would like a chance to turn the tables on the
casinos, these are the only methods that can actually
work to do just that. They are not “pie-in-the-sky”
approaches, but concrete attacks on where the casino
game of roulette is most vulnerable.
Even though most players
who play will never read Pawlicki’s book, and
the majority of those who do read it won’t
have the desire to put into practice the various
methods he espouses, it is still fun to know that
for just about every game the casinos come up with,
some players, some times, can come up with ways
to beat those games -- legally! The casinos have
created ingenious environments for players to enjoy
playing games where the house usually has the edge,
but some ingenious players have invented methods
for surviving those environments and coming out
on top in those games.
Pawlicki is one such player. Roulette players will
find his book contains great food for thought --
in fact, it contains a whole buffet of ideas.
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